Tag Archive for: writing contest

Do Contests Matter?

/in /by

Should the winner medal from the Killer Nashville Claymore
Award contest go on the cover of The Body in the Beaver Pond? That was one of the many
questions my cover artist and I discussed as I prepared for the release of the
novel. 

Cathy Perkins wins Killer Nashville award

As Dar and I chatted, I wondered, do writing contest even
matter?

Authors know how competitive the contests are, but do
readers care? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Of course, there are the other reasons authors (or their
publicists) enter. Little secret – we’re incredibly insecure! Think about it.
We’re putting ourselves “out there” for the world to critique. We’re sharing pieces
of the deepest parts of us. And we worry all the time that maybe our books are
actually terrible and any previous “success” was a fluke. Maybe a contest offers
a tiny bit of affirmation, that says, Yeah. This is good.

Then again, that may be more than most readers need or want
to know.

While I’ve had a great time writing this novel and look
forward to the release, I decided to add a layer to my usual low key launch
plans. I decided to make the release about all of you.

Nearly everyone knows
friends or family who’ve lost loved ones, jobs, nearly lost their home, and faced
a host of other challenges this year.

The Body in the Beaver Pond touches on many of these
challenges, offering a tangible (if somewhat snarky) perspective from Keri, as
she struggles to adjust after loosing her marriage, home and job. (And for an extra writing challenge – the book is funny!)

Now that I have a funny main character I hope people
relate to, I need a place to make all this happen. (Imaginary) Liberty Falls
is drawn from a number of small towns in Washington state’s Cascade Mountains.
Lingering economic inequities, the pandemic, life throwing curve balls – all this hurt many
people, especially in these smaller, rural areas where social services are few
and far between. As a result, I’m donating the royalties from presales (and the
first few months of sales) from The Body in the Beaver Pond to HopeSource, a
multi-purpose agency, which serves Kittitas County (the first county you
discover when you venture over Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle.)

I’d appreciate your help in getting the word out about both
the book and the donation. 

Get your presale copy and help me help our friends and neighbors – https://books2read.com/BodyintheBeaverPond

 

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on Peril in the Pony Ring, the sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, releasing May 2021!) which was recently presented with the Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award. 

Writing Contests

/in /by

by J.M. Phillippe

I have to admit that I am a little distracted trying to write a blog this week, as I am anxiously awaiting the results of the second round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Writing Challenge tonight (Tuesday, May 2nd) at Midnight. This is my second year in a row participating in the competition, which assigns writers a randomly generated genre, character, and subject and then gives you a limited amount of time to submit a short story that includes all three. If you are in the top five of your heat in the first round, you move on to the second, where you get a newly assigned genre, character and subject, and if you make the top four of your heat in that round, you move on to the third and final, where you get yet another genre, character, and subject, and even less time to write your story. The story length also goes down each round. Personally, this is the hardest part for me, as a novelist, to try get an entire story completed in only 1500 words.

Last year, I won my heat in the first round, but didn’t even make an honorable mention in the second as I did not really nail my genre (romance, which isn’t usually my forte). This year, I was assigned romance in round one and was very concerned about my entry — but managed to win my heat in the first round anyway, which I was super excited about. I am hoping to make it to round three.

Regardless of the outcome, the competition has been great for me, both years running. Last year, my short story The Sight was written because of this contest, and I am now turning that into a full-length novel. Plus, there is something about having to write under deadline that really appeals to me. The random genre assignments means me — and most participants — are forced out of our comfort zones, while the limited time helps me stay focused on the task at hand. Plus, every story submitted gets read by readers and sent back with comments, which has been great for helping me develop as a writer overall.

Still, I am amazed by how much of my ego has been wrapped up in this competition, and how much seeing my name in the top five of my heat (two years running!) made me swell up with pride. I know it’s just a contest, but it still feels pretty validating to even make it past round one. So I’ll be crossing my fingers that I made it past round two.

And if not this year, there will always be next year.

***

J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness and the short story The Sight. She has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City. She works as a family therapist in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free-time decorating her tiny apartment to her cat Oscar Wilde’s liking, drinking cider at her favorite British-style pub, and training to be the next Karate Kid, one wax-on at a time.